What is Kashmiri?

 Geographical Location

The Kashmiri Language is spoken by more than 5 million people, in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a Himalayan Zone situated between Central Asia, India, Pakistan and China. The Kashmiri Language is spoken mostly in the Kashmir Valley, which is the hotbed of seccessionism in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir. It is also spoken in Kishtwar, other parts of Chenab Valley, in parts of Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and by the Kashmiri minority in Jammu city. Kashmiri denotes the language of the ethnic Kashmiris, but Kashmiri can also denote an ethnic "Kashmiri", as well as any native of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Linguistic Classification

Most  prominent linguists of the day classify Kashmiri as a highly Persianised language of the Dardic Group of the Indo-Aryan Languages. There has been disputes upon the classification of Dardic as Indo-Aryan. Early linguists like George Abraham Grierson put Dardic and Nuristani into the same category, and had put them as a separate Indo-Iranian group between Iranian and Indo-Aryan.

Nowadays, Dardic is often referred to as a geographic umbrella term, and even this, is under dispute.

Kashmiris 

Kashmiris are a multilingual people that form the majority of Jammu and Kashmir. Their native language is Kashmiri, though, throughout their history, Sanskrit, Persian and Urdu have served as court languages. Due to this, Kashmiris till-date are of a multilingual nature, as they used to be centuries ago. Today, most Kashmiri youth understand English, Urdu and Kashmiri. 

However, literacy is widespread mostly in English and Urdu. The tough vowel system of the Kashmiri Language has resulted in the failure of Sharada, Devanagari and Perso-Arabic scripts. The modifications in the last two have made them as complicated as the language itself. While many people are more comfortable in speaking Kashmiri, they prefer reading and writing in Urdu. Partly because they do not understand the Kashmiri script, and partly because no one else does, too.

Most Kashmiris have converted to Islam, though, unlike Indian Muslims, most of them retained their original surnames. Hence, surnames like Khan, Beigh (Beg/Baig) or Mir easily identify the non-Kashmiri ancestry of the bearers. Kashmiri surnames are based on the Hindu Varna System, too. For example, "Bhat", is the priestly, upper-caste, and "Wani" (from "Baniya") is a merchant caste. Wani actually in Kashmiri means "possessor of a Waan". What is a Waan? Waan means shop.

Nationalistic and regionalist leanings are common in Kashmiris since time immemorial. Their isolation from outside has caused a totally alien, unusually Indo-European culture to grow in the valley. Dardic dances, Persian poetry, Islamic headscarves, Turkic crockery — all can be found in Kashmir.

Islam, in Kashmir, is found in an unorthodox, Sufi form. It was introduced to Kashmir by great saints like Bulbul Shah, Mir Sayyed Ali Hamadani and further propagated in an even more unorthodox form by Sheikh-ul-Alam. 

Due to this influx, which left permanent stamps in Kashmir, Kashmiri too, is highly influenced by other languages. It is influenced by Persian, Arabic and even Hindustani.

Forms of Kashmiri

First, Kashmiri can be divided on the basis of where it is spoken in Kashmir Valley:

Kamrazi - North Kashmir

Yamrazi - Central Kashmir, particularly Srinagar

Marazi - South Kashmir

Yamrazi, which is spoken in the large, urban area of Srinagar, serves as the prestige dialect.

Then, it can be divided on the basis of where it is spoken in Jammu and Kashmir:

Standard Kashmiri - Kashmir Valley

Poguli - Banihal and Pogul-Paristan areas

Rambani - In Ramban

Kashtawari - In Kishtwar, by the Hindu minority.

Then, it can be further divided into the Muslim, and Pandit dialects.

The Muslim dialect is more influenced by Persian and Arabic, and is spoken by the Muslim majority, while the Pandit dialect is influenced by Sanskrit, and spoken by the Hindu minority.

One difference between the Muslim and Pandit dialect, is:

Water (Muslim dialect) - Āb (From Persian)

Water (Pandit dialect) - Pon' (Local Indo-Aryan)